The Dark Knight surprised no one by performing impressively at the box office. We all knew it would win the weekend. It had everything working toward that end: a talented star who died too soon in his final full performance; film number two in a hot franchise; and the adulation of pretty much every critic out there. There was no way this movie was going to open at anything but number one at the box office.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army accomplished a couple of major box-office feats this weekend: It unseated Hancock in a superhero vs. superhero competition for the No. 1 spot (though not by much), and it managed to get halfway to the first Hellboy movie's domestic box office take in its opening weekend.

Let's play a guessing game. What movie, if any, will unseat Will Smith's Hancock this weekend? Well, let's look at what's opening and make an educated guess. First up is the sequel to that OTHER superhero movie that's opening in July, Hellboy II. The first one made money, and is something of a cult classic, and (like Dark Knight) Hellboy II reunites its cast with the director of its predecessor. I loved the original film, but this in no way has the same drawing power as Will Smith. Fans of Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro will go, as will Hellboy fans, but that's not enough.

Hancock dominated the 4th of July weekend -- both the three-day and the five-day versions -- at the box office. The movie's $66 million weekend and its even more impressive $107 million five-day take prove one thing: Will Smith not only still owns Independence Day (he has since Independence Day, really), but he also showed that he really is the last movie star. (Take that, Time magazine and George Clooney!)

Tom Cruise is really getting into recycling these days, it seems, and he's not stopping at separating the glass from the plastics before putting them out on the curb. No, he's recycling his actual career, according to an article in Variety. The actor is gearing up to play yet another secret agent in Columbia Pictures' Edwin A. Salt. According to the article, Cruise will play "a CIA officer who's accused of being a Russian sleeper spy." Naturally, "[he] must elude capture long enough to clear his name." Early bets have him spending most of the movie looking frantic, running around, jumping off buildings and/or geographical features, blowing things up and being nearly blown up himself. He could save himself the trouble and recycle footage from his past movies.

Both new movies in wide release debuted strong at the box office, a sign that the box office numbers aren't slowing this summer, despite our nation's economic crunch.

To no one's surprise, Pixar's latest, WALL-E debuted at No. 1 (don't Pixar's movies always? I can't find one that hasn't), taking in $62.5 million, which ties it with Monsters, Inc. for the third-highest Pixar opening weekend, after The Incredibles and Finding Nemo.

Faced with a choice between the mediocre Get Smart and the truly offensive Love Guru, U.S. moviegoers made the smart choice, making Get Smart the No. 1 movie and leaving Guru way back at No. 4.

The Incredible Hulk smashed its way to the top of the weekend box office, knocking a Kung Fu Panda out of the No. 1 spot.

It's never exactly a shock when a kids movie (which are known to be big box office draws) and the weekend's widest release is the top movie at the box office, so there were no big surprises this weekend: Kung Fu Panda chop-sockied the competition with $60 million on 4,114 screens to top the weekend box office. [That's no dim sum! Get it? No? Sigh. - Z]

Sex and the City strutted its way to the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend, raking in $55.7 million on 3,285 screens, knocking Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull into second place, with $46 million on 4,264 screens in its second weekend.

According to The New York Times, industry analysts were predicting a $27.5 million opening weekend as recently as a week ago. Folks lining up at theaters across the country had some predicting as high as $70 million, but $55.7 million is enough to make the movie a bona fide success.